PERU: URGENT ACTION
LORI BERENSON REINCARCERATED IN PERU:
Violation of equality before the law
This urgent action was prepared by the Berenson family. For more information: www.freelori.org
WHAT TO DO?: see below.
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LORI BERENSON REINCARCERATED IN PERU:
VIOLATION OF EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW
BACKGROUND ON THE BERENSON CASE
Lori Berenson, a US citizen, was arrested in Lima, Peru on November 30, 1995. She was sentenced by a hooded military tribunal to life in prison for treason against Peru for being a leader of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).
Her military trial was universally condemned for egregious violations of due process under legislation failing to meet international standards. Owing to much international pressure, her life sentence was annulled and she was retried by a civilian court in 2001 and found guilty of being a secondary accomplice to collaboration with a subversive organization and given a 20 year sentence. She was acquitted of being a leader or even a member of that group and she was acquitted of ever participating in acts of violence.
GRANTING OF PAROLE AND 12 WEEKS OF FREEDOM
Lori Berenson was incarcerated in four different prisons, including the notorious Yanamayo Prison located nearly 4,000 meters above sea level. After having served 14 years, 5 months and 25 days she was granted conditional freedom (parole) on May 25, 2010 by Judge Jessica León Yarango. The parole decision was based on Lori Berenson's satisfying all legal requirements.
At the hearing which announced her parole, both the public prosecutor (Fiscal) and representative of the State's interests (Procurador público especializado en delitos de terrorismo) appealed the judge's decision.
Berenson was released from prison on May 27, 2010. She and her then one year-old son Salvador, who had lived in prison with his mother since birth, moved into an apartment in the Miraflores neighborhood in Lima. During the two and a half months that she was on parole, she complied with all legal norms.
On August 16, 2010, a panel of three judges from the National Criminal Court (Sala Penal Nacional) presided over the appeal hearing. The public prosecutor presented a written document appealing the lower court's decision based on whether Lori Berenson had fulfilled sufficient time to be paroled and whether the positive psychological reports in her file were accurate. In addition, the public prosecutor claimed that the judge did not order Lori Berenson's place of residence to be inspected by the DIRCOTE specialized police prior to the granting of parole, even though the DIRCOTE police inspected the apartment twice after she was released.
Berenson's lawyer presented the jurisprudence supporting the timing of the parole and the validity of the positive psychological reports. He also argued for the legality of the housing.
ARBITRARY RETURN TO PRISON
On August 18, 2010 the Sala Penal Nacional annulled Judge León's decision based on the need for DIRCOTE to formally inspect Berenson's apartment.
Berenson has been singled out due to her nationality and made emblematic of terrorism and violence in Peru.
From the moment of her arrest during the Fujimori dictatorship, when her case was manipulated in the Fujimori-controlled media, through her fourteen and a half years of imprisonment and recently during her time on parole, Berenson consistently has been reviled as the gringa terrorista. She was a prominent story in the media during the two and a half months since being granted parole through her recent reimprisonment.
Over the past decade hundreds of people detained for the crime of terrorism, Peruvian and other nationals, have been given parole based on the same criteria that the judge used to grant parole for Berenson. None of these people has been subjected to the type of sustained discussion in the media or commentary by politicians. And none of these, other than a handful who could not pay their fines, was returned to prison.
WHAT TO DO?
REQUEST FOR LETTERS TO PRESIDENTS GARCIA AND OBAMA
IDL (Instituto Defensa Legal), Peru's legal and human rights NGO, published a report (Informando Justicia No. 285 in IDEELE) critical of Lori Berenson's return to prison, stating that the appeals court capitulated to political and public pressure in its improper ruling.
Write to Alan Garcia Perez, President of the Republic of Peru, and urge that he commute Lori Berenson's sentence based on a recognition that Lori Berenson was singled out for unfair treatment because of her nationality in violation of Articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by a judicial system that was unduly pressured by politicians, the media, and by the Peruvian public at large, in violation of her rights to be heard by a fair and impartial judiciary as specified in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Honorable Dr. Alan Garcia Perez
President of the Republic of Peru
Plaza de Armas
Lima, Peru
The salutation is Dear President Garcia.
The Peruvian Presidency maintains a webpage for messages to President Garcia:
http://www.presidencia.gob.pe/cartas_presidente.asp
In addition, US citizens should write to President Barack Obama, stating that Lori Berenson is being wrongfully incarcerated in Peru, singled out for unfair treatment because of her nationality. Remind him that he is required under statute USC 1732 Section 22, to do everything "short of war" to secure the release of a wrongfully incarcerated citizen. This statute states:
Whenever it is made known to the President that any citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the President forthwith to demand of that government the reasons of such imprisonment; and if it appears to be wrongful and in violation of the rights of American citizenship, the President shall forthwith demand the release of such citizen, and if the release so demanded is unreasonably delayed or refused, the President shall use such means, not amounting to acts of war and not otherwise prohibited by law, as he may think necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate the release; and all the facts and proceedings relative thereto shall as soon as practicable be communicated by the President to Congress.
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20500
The salutation is Dear President Obama.
The US maintains a webpage for messages to President Obama:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
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For more information on the Lori Berenson case please visit www.freelori.org
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